Question about Chinese Praying Mantis Egg Cases

[Tidbit]

Let me prefis by stating, I've never hatched out mantis egg cases before this attempt.

It's my understanding that a lot of the egg cases available to the public are collected from the wild. My cases are setup in deli cups with a moisture source. The egg cases are maintained temperatures that hover around 72 to 74 degrees. The egg cases are also not very consistent in their hatching, I still have two from the original batch that have not hatched...and of the second batch...none have hatched yet.

Interesting. I’m stuck in the Lepidoptera pupation world where the day can be relatively easily predicted. I hope they hatch soon though.

 

[Colorado Ts]

1st June 2020



My son has a friends that was very interested in getting praying mantis egg sacs and hatching them out. So, from the first batch of egg sacs, I gave her the last 2 deli cups with the egg sacs to hatch out.

June 1st she came home from work to a bunch of baby mantids. Very happy for her, she is very excited. From the image, there looks to 100 +/- in the deli cup. I believe she released the babies into the garden at her house.

1 egg sac left from the 1st group.

 

[Colorado Ts]

5 June 2020...2nd group



So now we’re into the 2nd set of ten egg cases. Two of them hatched today. Totally unexpected. Both look to be 200+ babies, the one on the right could be even closer to 250+.



This project has gone beyond anything that I was expecting. I’m even starting to run out of places to release them. I released one group in the backyard in my cherry tree. Those trees get loaded with aphids, so good food source for these tiny babies.



The second group I released in the persimmon bushes in the front yard. The above images are of the group released in the persimmons.

 

[Colorado Ts]

6 June 2020...2nd Group

From the 2nd group we gave another egg case that has hatched out. I’m guessing that there are about 125 to 150 babies in this hatch.

We’re in a severe weather watch till 8:00 pm tonight. I’m going yo take these to my Dad’s house, he’ll release them tomorrow.



I’ll be saying this a lot...amazing crazy results from this little project. Lots of fun with this...

 

[Colorado Ts]

15 June 2020...2nd Group

Here’s another hatch. It looks to about 150 babies in this hatch. They are still coming out of the egg case. This is such a fun summer project, a little out of hand...but very cool just the same.



I added water to the paper towel, they looked dry. Grandkiddos are at the library picking out books, so I’m going to hold until they are back.

The garden is looking real good this summer, lots of little bugs...so yeah, good place for them to start out their short lives.

 

[Colorado Ts]

16 June 2020...2nd Group



Here we go again...I caught this egg case right in the middle of all the babies hatching out. I’ll let them sit for a few hours and then turn them loose. I’ve found a nice area outside of town and the landowner is really excited to have Praying Mantids on their property.

The 2nd group has 5 unhatched cases left to go...

 

[Colorado Ts]

17 June 2020...2nd group



Wow, these things are going off like popcorn.

The grandkiddos get real excited everytime one of the egg cases hatch out. Headed out to the country...

All these egg cases were hatched inside 32oz deli cups, with vented lids. A half sheet of paper towel was folded to fit into the bottom of the container, then moistened every few days to maintain a humid environment.

Ambient room temperature range has been 74 degrees for a high, down to around 70 degrees.

There are 4 egg cases left of the 2nd group. The grand kiddos want them to be released at their new house. So they're all spoken for....this really has been a simple totally fun project this summer.

 

[Colorado Ts]

18 June 2020...2nd Group



Smaller hatch today, less than 100 this time; between 60 & 70. It’s amazing to me how this 2nd group of egg cases are hatching. Blam, blam, blam...one right after another.

I’ll be releasing these babies at the grandkiddos new home. They are pretty excited to have them.

2nd group down to 3 unhatched egg cases left.

 

[Reezelbeezelbug]

So cool. Are you keeping any to raise up? I got my first mantis the other day and it's fun to watch these little guys run around and hunt.

 

[Colorado Ts]

So cool. Are you keeping any to raise up? I got my first mantis the other day and it's fun to watch these little guys run around and hunt.

With the first set of egg cases, we set up a butterfly cage and had about 70 or 80 babies in it. We fed them fruit flies. We kept them until they got to be about 1.5 inches+/-...then we let them go in the front yard.

It’s been an amazing little project. I’ve really enjoyed it and the grandkids are having a great time with it as well.

 

[Colorado Ts]

25 June 2020



This never gets old. Another group of babies, my wife and the grandkiddos will release these. I’m installing receased lighting in the kitchen today.

Only 2 egg cases left to hatch. The end of this project is in sight.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Both of the remaining egg sacks are damaged. They arrived that way from the vender and it looks like they may not hatch and are non-viable.

So for this little experiment ....out of 20 egg cases we were able to get 17 to hatch. Fun times...10/10 would do again.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Picking peppers in the garden this morning and I found this 3” little guy hanging out on guard duty.



I can’t wait to see them full size in the fall.

 

[Ferrachi]

Great thread !! I've been wanting to purchase some eggs myself and let them go in the yard after they hatch as well and this is encouraging... I hear they are great to keep the mosquito population down.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Great thread !! I've been wanting to purchase some eggs myself and let them go in the yard after they hatch as well and this is encouraging... I hear they are great to keep the mosquito population down.

When they are small, they are amazing at eating mosquitos. It’s pretty cool to go outside and see a couple of them fly by and know that they are there because you did this...

Its been an easy and very fun project.